Trestle



J. R. JONES.

TRESTLE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 8. l9l5.

1 1 94,025; Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

our ea JOHN R. JONES, OF OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN.

TRESTLE.

Application filed May 8, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN R. Jones, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Oshkosh, in the county of lVinnebago and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements in Trestles, of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification.

This invention has for its object to provide a trestle ladder for supporting boards or the like at various elevations to form scafiiolding on which workmen may stand when the work to be done is too high to be reached from the ground or the floor, and a particular object of the invention is to providesuch a trestle which will be collapsible for convenience in carrying from place to place, and which will be less liable to be overturned than trestles of ordinary construction.

Another object of the invention is to make the construction strong and durable, and to provide a stop for the tie rods which will not be as liable to pinch the fingers as with the ordinary construction.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists in the trestle as herein claimed and all equivalents.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like characters of reference indicate the same parts in the difi'erent views, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trestle con structed in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a front view thereof; Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the hinge end thereof in its folded condition; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view showing the arrangement of the hinge; Fig. 5 is a sectional plan view showing the arrangement of the tie rods; and, Fig. 6 is a sectional plan view showing the connection of the brace legs with the lower end of the ladder.

In these drawings '10 indicates a pair of ladders with cross rungs 11 at intervals, the two ladders being hinged together by means of hinges 12 formed of metal straps riveted or bolted to the sides of the ladders and pivoted together with their ends bent over the sides of the ladder. The ends of the ladder runners above the hinge are slightly beveled so that they fit together in the manner shown in Fig. 1 and bring together the two top strips 13. At an intermediate point the ladders have tie rods 1 1 pivotally connected to them and pivotally connected to- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patei'ited Aug. 8, 12 11 8.

Serial No. 26,702.

gether, the pivotal connection between the being clearly shown in Fig. 5 as consisting of a bolt 15 passing through the side of each ladder and also passing through an angular cleat 16 secured to the side of the ladder, the end of the tie rod 14 being pivotally mounted on the bolt 15 between the cleat 16 and a washer. The rivet or bolt which pivotally connects the tie. rods of each pair also passes through a guard plate 17 positioned between them, suchplate having stop lugs 18 on opposite sides thereof to engage the tie rods 14 when they are in alinement with each other, and thus limit their swinging movement.

The lower end of each of the ladders 10 is clamped between a pair of cross pieces 19 which extend laterally beyond the sides of the ladder and also clamp between them a pair of diverging brace legs 20 which at their upper ends are secured to the sides of the ladders by a cross rod 21 and continue below the ends of the ladders to constitute the supports for the trestle. The divergence of the brace legs 20 assures a firm support for the trestle, the distance between the lower ends of such brace legs being considerably greater than the distance between the parallel sides of the ladders. The sides of the ladders 10 are not as broad as the brace legs 20, so that the cross pieces 19 are caused to bow toward each other and form a truss to ive strength and rigidity to the device.

The trestle is used in the ordinary manner to support boards or other scaffolding on the various rungs thereof or on the top strips 13, and there is no danger of the trestle overturning because of the broad base support afforded by the diverging brace legs. The trestle may be folded so that the two ladders lie close together for convenience in carrying it from place to place, and when it is set up there is practically no danger of pinching the hand in the tie rods 141 because of the presence of the guard plate 17 The construction of the hinges 12 is such that they are able to bear the stress to which they are subjected without danger of disconnection.

It is obvious that the features of this invention are useful for step ladders and other ladders as well as for trestles, and consequently there is no intention to confine the claims to one form of device only.

It will be seen that a ladder constructed in accordance With this invention can be made of any desirable length and spread and that the spread of the brace legs can be increased accordingly to maintain the security thereof. These divergent brace legs in effect constitute a buttress support.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the character described, a pair of members hinged together near their upper ends, tie rods hinged together and pivotally connected With the said members, and a guard plate pivotally mounted on the hinge connection of the tie rods and provided With stop lugs for engaging the tie rods and limiting the movement thereof.

2. In a trestle, a pair of ladders, comprising side runners and connecting rungs,

Copies of this patent may be obtained for hinges connecting the ladders together, each ladder having diverging brace legs secured to the side runners thereof at a distance from their ends and continuing beyond the ends of the side runners, said brace legs being of greater Width than the side runners, and bowed cross pieces on the front and the rear of the lower end of each ladder secured to the ends of the side runners and to intermediate parts of the brace legs forming a truss to give strength to the spreading base of the ladders.

In testimony Whereof, I afiiX my signature, in presence of two Witnesses.

JOHN R. JONES.

Witnesses KATHERINE HOLT, R. S. C. CALDWELL.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). C. 

